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Lögreglan ætlar að afhjúpa hann.

Lögreglan ætlar að afhjúpa hann.
The police are going to expose him.
From Lesson 383:Subjective reporting (segjast, þykjast)·Icelandic

Questions & Answers about Lögreglan ætlar að afhjúpa hann.

How can I apply this lesson's topic to say "The police claim they are going to expose him"?
You can use the middle-voice verb segjast (to claim / say of oneself) followed by a bare infinitive. The sentence becomes: Lögreglan segist ætla að afhjúpa hann. Notice that we drop the að before ætla, because segjast requires a bare infinitive, but the að before afhjúpa remains because ætla still requires it.
Why does the English translation use a plural verb ("are going to") when ætlar is singular?
In Icelandic, lögreglan (the police) is grammatically a singular feminine noun and therefore takes the 3rd person singular verb ætlar. While English treats "the police" as a plural collective noun, Icelandic treats it strictly as a single entity.
What are the component parts of the verb afhjúpa?
It is formed from the prefix af- (off, removing) and the verb hjúpa (to cover, to coat), which comes from the noun hjúpur (veil, shroud). Literally meaning "to un-veil," it is a very logical construction for the English concept "to expose."
Why is hann in the accusative case here instead of the dative?
The verb afhjúpa governs the accusative case for its direct object. While B2 learners know that many Icelandic verbs take dative objects, afhjúpa behaves like a standard transitive verb, so "him" must be the accusative hann rather than the dative honum.

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